A group of health care ethicists and palliative care experts convened by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing developed a set of competencies that should be achieved through nursing curricula. The purpose of the 15 competency statements is to assist nurse educators in incorporating end-of-life content into nursing curricula. Every undergraduate nursing student should attain these competencies. Few schools would be expected to offer a discrete course in end-of-life care, and it is suggested that these competencies be incorporated into existing curricula, especially in the areas of : (1) health assessment; (2) pharmacology; (3) psychiatric and mental health nursing; (4) nursing management; (5) ethics and legal issues; (6) cultural issues; (7) nursing research; and (8) professional issues and health care settings. (SLD)